The present disclosure relates generally to cloud computing, and more particularly to network management.
Cloud computing services can provide computational capacity, data access, networking/routing and storage services via a large pool of shared resources operated by a cloud computing provider. Because the computing resources are delivered over a network, cloud computing is location-independent computing, with resources being provided to end-users on demand with control of the physical resources separated from control of the computing resources.
Originally the term cloud came from a diagram that contained a cloud-like shape to contain the services that afforded computing power that was harnessed to get work done. Much like the electrical power we receive each day, cloud computing is a model for enabling access to a shared collection of computing resources—networks for transfer, servers for storage, and applications or services for completing work. More specifically, the term “cloud computing” describes a consumption and delivery model for IT services based on the Internet, and it typically involves over-the-Internet provisioning of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources. This frequently takes the form of web-based tools or applications that a user can access and use through a web browser as if it were a program installed locally on the user's own computer. Details are abstracted from consumers, who no longer have need for expertise in, or control over, the technology infrastructure “in the cloud” that supports them. Cloud computing infrastructures may consist of services delivered through common centers and built on servers. Clouds may appear as single points of access for consumers' computing needs, and may not require end-user knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services.
The cloud computing utility model is useful because many of the computers in place in data centers today are underutilized in computing power and networking bandwidth. A user may briefly need a large amount of computing capacity to complete a computation for example, but may not need the computing power once the computation is done. The cloud computing utility model provides computing resources on an on-demand basis with the flexibility to bring the resources up or down through automation or with little intervention.